I know some of you might not believe this, but regulation can be exciting! And, deregulation even more so. FHCA was anticipating that HB 1143 by Rep. Matt Hudson would be heard on the House floor today. You may recall this is the AHCA deregulation bill, which has important provisions that eliminate duplicative inspections and paperwork for providers.
The bill was on the special order calendar, but rumors started early and when the Speaker came to the bill, it was temporarily postponed. It took some time to figure out what was going on, but late this afternoon we were assured by Rep. Hudson that although there are lots of health care amendments being filed on the bill, it is still in play. We hope it will come up for House passage soon and will continue to watch this and keep members up-to-date.
On the Senate side, the companion SB 2434 was on the agenda in Senate Ways and Means Committee and had EIGHT amendments filed on it. One amendment was added at FHCA’s request to place pediatric staffing standards in statute rather than rule, and it was the first one taken up by the committee. After it passed, all other amendments were objected to by Senator Gardiner and were withdrawn. This is good news as it makes the Senate bill much closer to the House version.
We are finally getting closer, so stay tuned for more to follow.
By Peggy Rigsby, FHCA Director of Government Services
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